The State Theatre is a bit outside of my travel range when going to a show. However, last Sunday it was the Make America Rock Again Tour. It wasn’t just one show, but at least four bands that I was psyched to see. I could amortize a 2 hour drive, each way, into a short thirty minutes. No problem!

Upon arrival at the State, I stopped by the merch booth to pick up an Alien Ant Farm shirt. The new album Always and Foreversports some awesome Rick and Morty-esque artwork, and I wanted to get a shirt for my son (we are both huge fans). [1]

Unfortunately, AAF had bus trouble and didn’t make it to the State that night. All my careful math went out the window. No problem. The first band I saw was Crazy Town, who was exceptionally good and brought everything back into balance.

This was the first time I saw these guys, but not the first time I’ve heard them. I guarantee everyone reading this has heard their most famous hit, Butterfly. These guys were incredibly animated on stage. Both vocalists worked well together to put on a great show.

Saving Abel was up next and was the first band that I trekked up there to see. Scotty Austin is doing a great job as the new lead, working the crowd and carrying the vocals. One of my favorites of theirs is the blusey The Sex is Good. Give it a listen.

Trapt was up next, which kind of surprised me. They have a pretty big following and appear to have top billing on the Rock Again posters. They are touring in support of their newly released album DNA, of which you can get a free sample on their website.

Saliva headlined for the night. I love these guys. One day driving to work, I pulled up to a stop signal with perhaps their most famous hit, Click Click Boom, turned way up on the stereo. I look over to my right and see these two kids in a van laughing their asses off at the 50 year old guy rocking out to rap-metal. I guess it was pretty funny, but I am just not ready to settle down and start listening to mellow classic rock yet. (no matter how much my wife would appreciate it)

The Make America Rock tour packed a lot of great music into one night. It was enough to get me off my ass and drive all the way to Portland. Check it out if you get a chance. Tour dates are on their site. My only regret is that I didn’t get the damn Alien Ant Farm shirt.

[1] What!!! You’ve never heard of Rick and Morty?! Stop reading this right now and go check it out. If you are reading this, you are a musical person, so you’ll like this one. Watch the episode and listen to the soundtrack at the end of the episode as Morty buries his own body and contemplates the loss of all he’s ever known. It’s kind of an adult cartoon.

Billy Talent played the Sinclair last week, to a respectably crowded house for a Sunday night. These guys are another band that I fell into through Spotify. I’ve written about this before, but sometimes it’s just spooky how their recommender system can pick music out of the air they know I will like. (Had to give them a shout out, because this is what I do for my day job.) Read more

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